For the first six years of his baseball career, Jason Bay was one of the game’s up-and-coming stars. He toiled in relative obscurity, first with the San Diego Padres and then with the Pittsburgh Pirates, where his tenacious, hard-slugging style of play caught the attention of baseball fans everywhere.

After a two-season stretch with the Boston Red Sox, Bay reached the pinnacle of his career. He was able to test the free-agent market for the first time. Suitors lined up around the block. Bay knew his career would take him someplace special. It did, as Bay signed a lucrative four-year contract worth $66 million with the New York Mets before the 2010 season started.

How the Mets wish they could have that time back. From the minute Bay set foot in the Big Apple, he felt pressure to produce with that fat contract hanging from his neck like an albatross. It made for some uncomfortable times as frustrated Mets fans quickly realized they had been sold a bill of goods. This month, Bay and the Mets came to the same conclusion. He had underproduced, and the Mets wanted him out of town.

Bay will be paid the full $21 million he is owed on the contract, and the $15 million that is deferred money will come to him before the end of 2015. He certainly doesn’t leave New York a pauper. One of the nice things (for the players, anyway) about guaranteed contracts in Major League Baseball is that teams often have to pay every cent themselves, unless other teams agree to pick up salary in a trade. With the termination agreement, Bay becomes an immediate free agent and can test the market again, presumably with a smaller, incentive-loaded deal coming to mind.

So where did it go horribly wrong for Bay? His loss means fans can go to a Mets game and figure out Where to Park in NYC without worrying about watching an overpriced slugger throw away $21 million. Heck, Mets fans say, the Yankees do that with Alex Rodriguez in one year!

In Bay’s defense the bat that produced back-to-back 30-homer seasons with Pittsburgh in 2005 and 2006, plus another pair of 30-homer seasons in 2008 with Pittsburgh and the Boston Red Sox in 2009, may have been compromised by his hard, gritty style of play.

A concussion in 2010 limited Bay to 95 games, and rib injuries each of the past two seasons hampered Bay’s ability to swing the ball. He hit 26 home runs over his three seasons in New York, with his best campaign in 2011 when he hit 12 home runs and drove in 57. Citi Field is not a strong home-run hitting park either, and Citi’s dimensions were changed following the 2011 season to reflect that.

His past history will get Bay some free-agent looks. The consensus is this market is not really good and teams always can use help when it comes to power bats. Boston has been mentioned as a destination for Bay once again, especially with the mass housecleaning the Red Sox had this summer and fall. Because his price is likely to fall big time, smaller-spending teams like the Cleveland Indians are on his list. Supposedly, Bay loved playing under former Red Sox manager Terry Francona, who is now in Cleveland.

Jason Bay may not get another $66 million deal anytime soon, but a solid season could parlay into a better deal down the road. For now, the book closes on the Mets and an uncertain future lies ahead.

This Fan Shot was contributed by Rebecca. Have something you want to say about the Mets? Share your opinions with over 12 thousand Mets fans who read this site daily. Send your Fan Shot to GetMetsmerized@aol.com. Or ask us about becoming a regular contributor.

So the inevitable has occurred, albeit much later than originally expected: Jason Bay is no longer a New York Met.

I’m sure there is much joy about this decision in Mets nation and rightfully so. The Bay signing will go down as the worst free agent contract in Mets history.

That said, I’m wishing Bay the best of luck in resurrecting his career with another team, preferably in the American League.

I’ll be the first to admit that Bay’s time in New York was downright terrible. He played in less than 60 percent of the team’s games in the past three seasons, and he hit just .234 with 26 home runs and 124 RBI during that time.

However, it would be unfair to say that Bay merely gave up and collected his lucrative paycheck.

The reason Bay was constantly hurt was because he constantly put his body on the line defensively. On the plays he got hurt, there was really no reason for Bay to even be close to those balls, yet he hustled all the time in the outfield.

Of course, paying $16 million for a defensive specialist in the outfield is ludicrous, so once Bay continued to show that he was inept at the plate, his release was just a matter of time.

Everyone in the organization admired Bay for his work ethic despite the poor results. Unfortunately, this is a results-oriented business, so Bay had to go.

In the one time I met Bay at the Mets’ 2010 Holiday Party, you could see and hear his tone that he truly wanted to improve and make an impact on this team, and that was only after his first poor season.

Some players will just shrug off a slump and not let it affect them, but Bay was different in that regard.

You almost have to feel bad for the guy, since it looked like he forgot how to hit. Here’s a guy who was a Rookie of the Year and three-time All-Star. You don’t just forget how to hit with that sort of resume.

Maybe the pressure of playing in New York got to him, or maybe the injuries really messed him up more than we all originally thought.

Either way, I admire Bay for realizing that his time in New York was finished even with one year remaining on his contract. It was a mutual decision for the Mets and Bay to part ways.

He could have been stubborn and looked to the fact that he signed a four-year contract and that’s where he would be for those four years, regardless of the lack of production.

But instead, Bay did the right thing for the team.

I hope Bay gets another chance somewhere, even if it’s on a minor-league deal. Let’s be honest, at age 34 he’ll never regain the form of his Pittsburgh and Boston days. But maybe he can be a productive pinch hitter and fourth outfielder.

So to reiterate, I was thoroughly disgusted by Bay’s on-field performance these past three seasons, and he was enormous financial drain. But as a man, I admire Bay for not giving up sooner than he did.

I hope Mets fans can agree with this.

The Mets this season have fielded about 15 players who have actually contributed – a far cry from the normal 25 man roster. Let’s reminisce and go back to early Spring – Port St. Lucie – when hope was abundant – when we all thought Oliver Perez was rip roaring and ready to hit the ground at CitiField running, repaired “injured” knee and all.

The Mets were unable – or unwilling – to land a starting pitcher this past off season. The Mets were forced to enter the 2010 season with Johan Santana leading a staff of Mike Pelfrey, John Maine, Oliver Perez and Jon Niese or as I always liked to call it – One man and a little hazy.

How pathetic in retrospect is that rotation? Santana aside, Pelfrey and Niese were the only two usable arms in that cadre and as the year progressed we had the opportunity to see Hisanori Takahashi start as well as the emergence of knuckleballer R.A. Dickey. Even with the surprisingly productive year of Dickey, the Mets at times this year, were just getting by with 3 reliable arms – sometimes even less.

The lineup envisioned by the powers that be included the bats of Rod Barajas, Luis Castillo, Jason Bay, Jeff Francouer and returning from injuries Jose Reyes and Carlos Beltran.

At times this season, Jerry Manuel’s lineup card might as well been partially left blank since more times than not there were at least four slots in the Mets lineup virtually unproductive. No team can compete for a championship with a handicap like that.

Take Rod Barajas who started the season on a torrid pace blasting 11 homeruns in his first month in Queens alone. After that glorious month, a picture of Rod Barajas’ Louisville slugger found it’s way on the side of milk cartons in local area bodegas. He hit an appalling .225 with 12 home runs, 34 RBI and a .677 OPS until being claimed off waivers by Los Angeles.

Luis Castillo. What can we say about Louie that hasn’t been already? He’s regressed worse than Chevy Chase’s career with a decaying range at second base that at this rate I bet Betty White can out-field our second baseman – but he found the stones to demand a trade for lack of playing time. Good idea Louie Louie and we gotta go, hey hey hey hey.

The outfield for the Mets this year has been a mishmash of players getting and returning from injury. Francoeur, a former “Natural” standout player with a great personality that has unfortunately seen his best days pass him – was sent packing from Atlanta last year and recently was traded to Texas. Francoeur’s numbers as a Met – .225 BA, 10 HR, 41 RBI, and a .836 OPS. A good guy who gave 110% – too bad it was 110% of Jeff Francouer baseball. There was a reason Bobby Cox let him go. Still doubt his baseball acumen?

Jason Bay was brought in with the intention of powering the offense. A poor man’s Matt Holliday – if you want to call a $66 million dollar contract poor – Bay has never seemed quite comfortable in the confines of CitiField. An assessment of Bay’s production last year showed that the majority of his round trippers were dead pull shots at Fenway. Considering left field at Citi fares no worse than Fenway- in fact slightly better considering the lack of the Green Monster – it was safe to assume Bay would do quite well at CitiField.

Of course Jason decided to become more of a gap hitter at Citifield thus ending that assumption. Bay’s numbers this year, .259 BA, 6 HR, 47 RBI and a .749 OPS. To add injury to insult, Bay ingloriously ended (perhaps?) his 2010 season when he slammed his head into the outfield fence in L.A., catching a fly ball, earning a concussion. Somewhere Ryan Church is popping an Excederin in solidarity.

Here is a list of players whom the Mets could have simply gotten by without –

1. Luis Castillo

2. Rod Barajas

3. Fernando Tatis

4. Alex Cora

5. Mike Jacobs

6. Gary Matthews Jr.

7. Jeff Francoeur

8. Jason Bay

9. John Maine

And last but certainly not least in all our hearts….

10. Oliver Perez

So Mets fans, stand up and give your team some credit here.  With the group of players ownership has given them to work with this year it’s absolutely a shock that the Mets have the respectable (albeit losing) record they have – so far.  Here’s to finding the silver lining and to hoping that the Mets keep bucking the trend through the remainder of the season.  Hopefully they can salvage what little baseball is left for them.

Game Notes

The Mets sent out the bullpen workhorse Fernando Nieve for his first start of the season. Jerry Manuel, during pre-game, said he would limit Nieve’s pitch count to 80 pitches. He reached more than half that in just the first inning. He threw 46 pitches, 22 strikes, in just the first inning. He gave up only two hits in the first inning, but four runs off of a Corey Hart grand slam. Not to overshadow the homerun hit in the second inning by Kottaras off Nieve. Fernando finished the night going two innings, allowing five runs on three hits and two home runs. He struck out five and walked three on 62 pitches. He has pitched nearly every game this season, so you can’t blame the guy for not having his full stuff this game. However, you can blame Jerry Manuel for this choice. Please, never again.

Oliver Perez came in the third inning to try to get the Mets a few more innings and keep them in the game. However, Ollie being Ollie, this did not happen. He pitched two innings, allowing three runs on three hits and one home run. He struck out two and walked two. There’s a reason he’s no longer starting for the Mets anymore.

Dessens, Mejia and Igarashi combined for four shutout innings of work, striking out one, and walking one.

Mets were actually able to score plenty of runs off of Manny Para and the Brewers bullpen, despite it not being enough to beat them. Reyes, Bay, Pagan and Francoeur all had two hits each, along with two RBIs and four runs scored. Ike Davis had the biggest hit of the night though. Went 1-5, but the one hit was a three-run home run.

Castillo, Wright, and Barajas combined 0-12 with two more strikeouts for David. A total twelve strikeouts for the Mets batters on the night.

Corey Hart this series so far – three home runs, eight RBIs. Let’s see him try to hit a knuckleball on Sunday.

Both Mets and Brewers donned different uniforms tonight in Negro League Remembrance Night. Mets wore the old NY Cuban jerseys, while the Brewers wore the old Milwaukee Bears uniforms.

First time in Mets history where both teams scored in each of the first four innings.

Turning Point

After the grand slam given up to Corey Hart, the Mets were never able to take the lead back.

Game Ball

Tough to find a winner in this game, but it’ll go to the relievers who actually helped the Mets. Dessens, Mejia and Igarashi.

Up Next

The knuckleballer R.A. Dickey (1-0) will finish up the three game weekend series against Randy Wolf (4-4) and the Brewers. Game time is 2:10 PM on SNY.